Murders San Bernardino County

A big "what if" hangs over the sanity trial of condemned triple murderer Horace Edward Kelly Jr.: What if the jury charged with deciding whether the San Quentin inmate is sane enough to be executed concludes that he is not? The short but fuzzy answer, by a state that has not faced this issue in nearly half a century, is that the 38-year-old inmate would probably be sent to a mental institution, treated for his psychosis and then executed after doctors brought him back to mental health.

Eight days before his scheduled execution, Horace E. Kelly's attempt to revive a federal appeal was denied Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court, and his lawyers prepared motions for trial on whether the triple murderer is sane enough to be executed. The court refused, without comment, to review an appeals court ruling that said Kelly forfeited his appeal by missing a one-year deadline under a new federal law.

Three men died and a fourth was critically wounded during a shooting that erupted Friday afternoon in a second-story unit of a modest apartment building, police said. Multiple gunshots were reported about 2:30 p.m. When officers arrived, they found two unidentified men dead in the apartment, said Ontario Police Cpl. Michael Caldera. Two men were lying outside. One of them, found on a walkway at the side of the building, was later pronounced dead at San Antonio Community Hospital in Upland.

A 15-year-old youth shot a 4-year-old to death inside a home methamphetamine lab because the younger boy didn't get cigarettes fast enough, police said Monday. "The 15-year-old told him to get him his cigarettes and he didn't, and so he shot him," said Sgt. Brad Ringnes. "It's a strange world." Rudy Padilla, 4, and his 5-year-old brother were at home when the 15-year-old boy, who was not related to the younger boys, told them to find some cigarettes, Police Lt. W.D. Smith said.

A supervising officer with the Loma Linda University Medical Center security force was shot and killed Thursday outside his office, allegedly by an employee who minutes earlier had been fired, authorities said. The victim was identified by the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department as Kenneth Kuch, 56, of Loma Linda, who had worked for the university's police force for about 20 years.

A shooting at a birthday party Sunday killed two people and wounded four others, including a 13-year-old girl, police said. No arrests were initially made after the 3 a.m. attack at an apartment on Sixth Street, police Det. Mike Macias said in a statement. The attack occurred when eight to 10 teenagers and young adults tried to crash the party and were stopped at the front door. An argument ensued, during which at least two people drew guns and opened fire, Macias said.

San Bernardino County sheriff's officials were searching Sunday for two men who shot and killed a 2-year-old boy strapped in his car seat in an apparent case of "road rage" as they tried to cut the boy's father off Friday night on a street in Hesperia. Two men in a blue car cut in front of the car being driven by 2-year-old Robert Xavier James' father as he tried to change lanes on Main Street just before 9 p.m. The child's mother and 6-year-old sister also were in the car.

A gunman opened fire during a thwarted robbery at a McDonald's restaurant Monday, killing a 9-year-old girl before an off-duty police officer mortally wounded him, authorities said. The gunman entered the restaurant through the employees entrance about 3 p.m. and handed a note to the manager, who then told employees they were being robbed, police said. An off-duty Barstow officer eating in the restaurant tried to confront the gunman, who opened fire, Police Lt.

An unlicensed surgeon whose fat-removal operation in a woman's home allegedly caused her death pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. Bail was set at $1 million. Guillermo Falconi, 43, of Upland, also entered not guilty pleas Thursday to one charge of practicing medicine without a license and two counts of unlawfully practicing medicine for surgeries he performed on two other women.

A mother who underwent fat-reduction surgery in her bedroom by an unlicensed doctor has died, authorities said. Barbara Rojas, 52, died Monday at San Antonio Community Hospital, said Jim Bryant, a spokesman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. She was hospitalized May 23, two days after the surgery. Guillermo Falconi, 43, was arrested for investigation of aggravated mayhem and risking bodily harm by practicing medicine without a license.